MP3va Review

Why we like MP3va

MP3va have a very low minimum top up amount, it's great for unusal editions of music and harder-to-find songs and there are always great offers running on the site.

The scoop on MP3va

MP3va is a very fresh looking site, with bold block colours, without being too busy or overpowering. The layout is very intuitive; you're never too far from what you need. Unless what you need is the TV remote and a cup of coffee, then MP3va aren't so good! MP3va have been around since 2007 and are doing very well for a new site. It is available to view in English and German and is not cluttered with adverts which makes it really easy to use. Our verdict: Fresh, Clean, Easy-to-Use, Cheap Prices, Cute Little Icons, if only it could make us dinner and pour a glass of wine in the evenings too!

Signing Up

Sign up in very quick and easy with MP3va. You just need to enter your email address and password and you're done. It then takes you to your account page where you have the option to complete your details in full, i.e name, security question, date of birth etc if you wish. Upon sign up, you get 30¢ free credited to your account which is two free tracks worth - enough for you to try out their service. This will be credited to your account after you have verified your email address.

Payment Options and Offers

Payments to MP3va can be made by Visa or MasterCard. The minimum top up is to your account is $14.95 which is the lowest amount of all the sites we have reviewed; handy if you want to get started using mp3 download sites but don't want to spend loads on your first go. This amount applies everytime you want to top up your account. MP3va have some great offers if you are willing to top up a little extra;

Top up $30 and get $10 for free or top up $50 and get $35 for free.

Special deals, updates and all other site offers can be seen on our Offers page.

Prices

MP3va's track price is 15¢ across the site, album prices, however, vary as with most sites, depending on the number of tracks it has. They do give albums discounts of 20% though, so if you want most of the songs on an album, it's probably going to work out cheaper for you to buy the whole thing.

Music Selection

MP3va has over 3,658,713 tracks on its site to get lost in and download. If this isn't enough, they will find any artist or album that they don't have listed upon request. The exact tracks figure, which we think they must be very proud of, it published on the home page and updated regularly. By regularly we mean practically every time a track is added! The site allows previews of music to make sure you're getting what you want, not some dodgy remix or cover. However, the preview is low quality, the actual download will be much better. They also have loads of album art which gives the site a feel of it being used and updated, something we think LegalSounds badly lacks

Search Facility

The search facility on MP3va is easy to use, with a predictive feature, always handy if you've no idea how to spell that artist you heard a radio DJ say at high speed! The results, however, are a bit hit and miss, listing only a few albums and tracks from the artist on the main results page. However, a full list of albums and tracks is available once you have clicked on the artist link.

Getting Tracks to your PC

On MP3va there are two ways to buy - 'Add to Cart' or 'Buy Now'. Once you have found what you want to download, there are check boxes next to each track, or you can select the whole album. Check the tracks you want to buy then decide to 'Add to Cart' or 'Buy Now'. 'Buy Now' will turn the check box into a green arrow, click this to download your track. If you select 'Add to Cart', your tracks will be added to your shopping basket at the top of the site. You can go into your basket when you are done browsing and buy the tracks or edit what you have in there. Once you have clicked 'Buy Selected', the tracks will be added to your 'Downloads' section. You then click the green arrow as before to begin the download to your pc. All tracks you download will stay in your downloads section, meaning that if you ever lose the original, you can re-download the album without having to re-purchase it.

File formats & Bitrates

MP3va only offer mp3s. This means they can be used and played on every mp3 device you may have. They are also all DRM free so they can be used anywhere and there is no limitation to the number of copies you can have. Song quality ranges from Song quality ranges from 128kbps to 320kbps, so as with Soundike, make sure you check the quality before you buy as 128kbps can be poor. See full descriptions of: DRM Free Music and Quality

Will it work with my iPod/iTunes?

Yes, all songs downloaded from MP3va will work with your iPod and iTunes library, your iPhone and any other device that refuses to become universal. The downloads will also work on Windows Media Player, Winamp, your mobile phone, laptop, car, everywhere and anywhere. Read how to put your downloads into your iTunes Library here: iTunes Guide.